MH-65 Stamp Honors USCG’s 225th

By Staff Writer | August 4, 2015

Emergency Medical Service, Humanitarian, Police, Search and Rescue

An MH-65 is one of two U.S. Coast Guard icons that adorn a U.S. stamp issued today to commemorate the 225th anniversary of that service’s founding. The Airbus Dolphin joins the three-masted Coast Guard cutter Eagle, known as “America’s tall ship,” on the stamp, which the U.S. Postal Service said honors the Coast Guard’s “role in protecting the security of the nation in advancing its vital maritime interests.” President George Washington established the Coast Guard’s predecessor, the Revenue Cutter Service, in August 1790. Dolphins first joined the Coast Guard fleet in 1985 as HH-65s to replace Sikorsky Aircraft HH-52s in the short-range rescue role. Early in this century, the modified versions of the commercial AS365 were assigned an additional role of maritime law enforcement and redesigned MH-65s; they can be equipped with weapons for airborne-use-of-force missions. The Coast Guard operates 102 Dolphins from 17 air stations on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, the Gulf of Mexico, Hawaii and the Great Lakes, as well as from deployed cutters. Airbus said the Dolphins have accumulated 1.41 million flight hours.